28 months

The other day, someone at work asked me how old Harmon was and I said, “oh, he’ll be 28 months next week.” As it was coming out of my month, I thought I should probably just say he’s almost 2 1/2. I guess I’m still holding on to the baby inside. He’s definitely not a baby anymore, though.

He’s getting used to the potty routine and is excited about underwear. The last time we were at Target, we looked at the underwear and he loved the ones with Spiderman and Cars. He has some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse underwear that my Mom bought him for his birthday but I need to make sure he hasn’t outgrown them. He often asks for Backyardigans underwear but I don’t even know if those exist. I guess I should figure that out. ANYWAY, he’s going a lot at school and we’re noticing he’s just going #1 overnight so there is progress. We are, however, still waiting for him to go in a public place. Baby steps.

I have no clue how much he weighs (my guess is high 30s) but we did measure him last week and he was 36 ¼ inches tall. Still a big boy. Generally, he’s been well behaved. After introducing and using the time-out corner early in January, he hasn’t had to visit there in a while. His favorite word lately has been “no” and that’s kind of a bummer. We’re trying to get him to use it only when appropriate instead of ALL THE TIME!

He still loves his books. Actually, we just can’t believe how much he still loves his books. I recently re-organized the bookshelf in his bedroom to give him full access to all of his books. He’s been choosing a good variety to read during the day and at bedtime so he must like it. Instead of toys all the time, we usually get him books. Sometimes I feel like we live at Borders!

Lately, he’s said some pretty funny things. We took Kevin out to lunch last Friday and, while Kevin and I were talking, he grabs us both and yells, “no Mommy and Daddy talk!” If Kevin looks at him wrong or, God forbid, dances, Harmon protests with “no Daddy look” or “no Daddy dance.” Sentences just flow from his mouth and we never know what’s going to come out. We also have to be really careful because he repeats EVERYTHING.

He is DYING to get to the park so I’m hoping spring is on its way. And, since we’re staying in Michigan this year for Easter, we’re hoping it will be warm enough to take him to a local Easter egg hunt that has gotten rave reviews from my co-workers. If he doesn’t score anything at the hunt, he’ll still get some goodies. We got him some Magna-Tiles and probably will get him a sandbox to play in during the summer. I’m sure he’ll get spoiled by everyone else too.

One last thing, Harmon loves PEANUT BUTTER JELLY TIME!



Actually, we all love it and who knew it was a staple of Tampa Bay Rays’ baseball.

Out.

Harmon the lumberjack

On Saturday, when I was walking on the treadmill, I saw an ad for a new TV series on the History Channel, "Ax Men," about loggers in the Pacific Northwest. Ask Aimee, and she will tell you that I love these types of shows (reality/documentary). "Deadliest Catch" was a favorite, although I never made it through a full season. Anyway, I had planned to watch the premiere last night, but then realized I had already seen a show about lumberjacks. In fact, we see it every day. Or, to be more precise, we hear it every day. You see, Harmon is a big snorer just like his Daddy. He can saw logs with the best of them, and we often can hear him through the wall and closed door of his bedroom. We know it is not his fault, as his tonsils have been enlarged of late. On Sunday, we decided to take a family nap. We usually are able to do this one day per weekend. As we got Harmon snuggled up in our bed -- using the tried and true black panther method -- he immediately began to snore. And it was LOUD! We tried moving him on his back; same thing. One his side; still snoring. I guess we just get used to it after a while, but I really feel sorry for Aimee. She has had to deal with my snoring for seven years, and now Harmon is chiming in, as well.

We just totally ripped him off!

Back in the fall, I got this cool sweatshirt from Russell Crowe’s rugby team, the South Sydney Rabbitohs. I love Russell Crowe anyway so this wasn’t a stretch – especially after his September visit to the Big House. But, I got a little more interested in the whole rugby thing after watching the South Sydney Story documentary on TV (I’m ashamed to say it was on Versus).

Anyway, I ordered the sweatshirt and it arrived and I loved it and wore it non-stop. And then, just a few days later, ANOTHER one came. WTF? I wasn’t sure if we would get double-billed so I kept it in its original packaging with all receipts and tags attached so it would be ready to go back down under if necessary. But, months have come and gone and we’ve never been billed for the second sweatshirt. So, we think it’s kind of funny that we got over on Russell for a whole $82.22. As Beavis and Butthead would say, we just totally ripped him off!

ADDENDUM: The second sweatshirt still has the tags on it and still is in the original packaging. I would return it if it didn’t cost a million dollars to send it back to Australia. And, I have to ask, why should I have to pay for their merchandise fulfillment mistake? Maybe wearing the original sweatshirt around town is worth $82 of publicity.

Cartoons

In case Harmon asks me one day what his favorite cartoons were when he was little, I've got it covered. I’ve been meaning to document this, via blog, so here goes!

Before I start, though, one quick side note. Back when Kevin and I were kids, cartoons were only on Saturday mornings, not every damn day! And, we walked five miles - each way - to school, uphill, in 18 inches of snow ...

ANYWAY, right now, Harmon’s cartoon viewing falls into three tiers:

Tier One – Must-see toddler TV
Tier Two – Maintains a general interest
Tier Three – Likes it for a bit and then it quickly becomes background noise

Tier One contains Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He can’t live without these and, thankfully, Kevin and I aren't annoyed by either of them so it all works out nicely. And, with Handy Manny, there’s the added bonus of Harmon picking up some Spanish, which we think is so important these days.

In Tier Two are Little Einsteins, My Friends Tigger & Pooh and the Backyardigans. He loves to name all the Little Einstein characters with our favorite being, as he says, Pency (it’s really Quincy). He likes the songs on Tigger & Pooh along with all the complimentary characters. On Monday afternoons, Kevin lets him watch the Backyardigans and he’s all excited for half of it and then … it’s on to cars AND the tube!

Tier Three includes Blues Clues, Wonder Pets and Yo Gabba Gabba. He likes each of these for about two minutes and then he finds something better to do. He will point out the paw-print clues and sing the Wonder Pets theme song and he loves some of the songs – like There’s a Party in my Tummy and Hold Still Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle – from Yo Gabba Gabba. But, if these cartoons suddenly were cancelled, I don’t think he would care at all.

Every so often, if Harmon gets up WAY earlier than usual (anytime before 7 a.m.), one of us will have to find Curious George or Clifford the Big Red Dog on Detroit Public TV. This is our emergency plan so we can get ready for work. He’s familiar with these cartoons but they don’t rock his world.

Two shows he doesn’t like, and frankly neither do we, are the Wiggles and the Doodlebops. Both shows freak the hell out of all of us. I don’t know if it’s grown-ass people dressing up or what but we’re not fans at all. We much prefer animation but, if grown-ass people in costumes ARE necessary, we prefer they be in FULL costumes instead of fruity outfits, wigs and face paint. Call us crazy!

Sound bytes

Harmon has been so funny lately. Here are some recent sound bytes from him:

Monday morning at breakfast, after looking at all of the Valentine’s Day cards posted on our card rack:

“Happy Valentine’s Day, Mommy!”

Last Friday at Target:

“Oh my gosh, careful, Mommy, don’t fall down!”


Last Sunday when I was putting on his puffy vest:

“HAPPY HALLOWEEN!”

NOTE: He hadn’t worn this vest since Halloween day (what a good memory).

Last week after I got out of the shower (please note I was fully covered by a huge towel):

“I see Mommy’s booty!”

Last week when Kevin brought me a brownie square after dinner:

“What’s that?” I answered chocolate and he then said, with hands placed softly at his chest, “Well I like chocolate!”

At totally random times, if he’s sad, he’ll say things like “Harmon is sad” or “Harmon is upset.” He also loves to say “I’ll go back to bed” if he’s not getting what he wants.

We never know what's going to come out of his mouth!

Valentine’s Day redux

Valentine’s Day was fun and Harmon finally had a holiday fall on one of his school days. So, he was able to give and receive treats. We put together small gift bags with cards, stickers and packages of mini M&Ms for Harmon’s 12 classmates. In exchange for what he gave, he received Valentine gifts from seven of his friends – with everything from cards to Play-Doh to mini tattoos.

Kevin and I exchanged a few small things. I got him a cool hoodie (in crisp green) from Gap and Harmon gave him a certificate to buy a new Nintendo Wii game. Kevin got me perfume, a dozen gorgeous peachy/orangey roses and a gift to be named later and Harmon got me a personalized $25 Starbucks card (note the message he put on it and note that it's orange – love that orange – in person). Speaking of Starbucks, and thanks to Kevin, every time we leave the house together Harmon says we’re going to Starbucks to get Mommy a Frappuccino!

Since he is spoiled beyond belief, we only got Harmon a few small things for Valentine’s Day. The best gift, though, was the “Here Come the 123s” CD/DVD from They Might Be Giants. We’ve seen a few of the “videos” between cartoons on the Disney Channel and he loves them so we thought we would get the whole CD/DVD. And, it is a total hit. He loves it so much and we like it too. Although it’s kids’ stuff, so many of the songs have great beats or catchy tunes and we find ourselves singing them all the time. Take “Zeroes” for example! I dare you NOT to sing it!

For dinner, we decided to eat at our favorite restaurant, Pizza House. It was a good time, mostly because Harmon was hungry as a horse. It’s nice to eat out when he’s like this, we don’t have to beg, pretend to cry or threaten him with the black panther to get him to eat!

The day ended with the nicest present of all – Harmon let me rock him to sleep. Usually, after we’re done reading, he just wants to go straight to bed. But, last Thursday, he let me hold him until he fell asleep just like when he was a baby. What a Valentine’s Day!

27 months

Today is Harmon’s 27-month birthday and, each month, it just gets more fun. It also gets more interesting as there’s always something new.

Recently, we moved him from the potty chair to the toilet and that seems to be going well. Just in case he tells us he has to go when we’re out, we bought a portable seat that folds nicely and fits in his diaper bag. We haven’t tried it yet but I suspect it will be an event when we do. As I mentioned here, he’s also making some potty progress at school so it’s good all around as far as the potty goes.

Speaking of school, since returning after the holiday break, his drop-offs have been great. As Kevin has noticed, he likes to walk up the stairs but then prefers that we carry him into the room. At this point, he gets down and is off on his way. One sad thing about school, though. Harmon’s lead teacher, Miss Deborah, has left. Harmon’s last day with her was last Thursday. He’s been with Miss Deborah almost the entire time he’s been at Annie’s as she assisted the lead teacher in his previous class. We all will miss her but we understand. She is a musician and wants to follow her dreams. Until she makes her next move, though, she will stop by Annie’s every other Thursday for music time with the kids. In Miss Deborah’s absence, Miss Laura – who Harmon just loves – will move into the lead teacher role.

At home, he’s really been into drawing on his Aqua Doodle lately. He asks us to draw lots of shapes, letters and numbers and then he tries to copy. He’s got the oval mastered! He also asks us to draw cars, dump trucks, garbage trucks, etc. but Kevin and I are both terrible at it. I hope he doesn’t try to copy those!

He continues to devour any book we buy him. His newest favorites are Bossy Bear (which was bought intentionally to teach a lesson), Walter the Farting Dog, Buzzy the Bumblebee and Have You Ever Seen a Moose Taking a Bath? If he sees a cute animal in these books, or in any of his books, he says “awwwww” and then gives the book a HUGE hug. It’s so sweet.

He still loves his cars and can’t go anywhere without at least one in each hand. He also continues to show his softer side with his love for his stuffed animals, especially his snow leopard.

Health-wise, he’s been fine with the exception of a day care cold here and there. We did take him to see the doctor last week as his tonsils – especially his right one – were enlarged. Since he had no other symptoms that were out of the ordinary, the doctor assumed he was just fighting something off which could cause the tonsils to swell. The doctor asked us if he snores and we said, oh my God, yes! As an aside, in church last week he fell asleep and was snoring SO loud. It was a little embarrassing. ANYWAY, the doctor said just to keep an eye on things and also told us that it’s very rare to remove tonsils these days. I was glad to hear that – I don’t think I could handle him having any kind of surgery at this point.

All in all, he is doing well and we are so blessed to have such a smart, happy and healthy 27-month old!

Potty at school

I meant to post this last week when it happened but totally forgot. Last Tuesday (Feb. 5), Harmon used the potty at school! It was the first time he's gone at school and we are so proud of him. Evidently, he was pretty proud of himself too because he talked about it all damn day (per his daily activities sheet at left).

He's been going at home on a semi-consistent basis since the Christmas break. I think he was hesitant to go at school because his teachers likely won't spend 45 minutes reading 20 books while he sits there (like we had been doing). Recently, though, we moved him from the potty to the real toilet (with the adapted seat) and cut out the books. He seems to go faster now and maybe that's why he went at school. Whatever the reason, we were glad there was some progress.

His teachers have told us that most of the kids in his class are using the potty consistently now and, while he's not there yet, this can only benefit him. We also need to keep in mind that he is THE youngest kid in his class so we just can't expect him to do what all the older kids are doing. As with most things, it will all come in time.

The power of persuasion

Most 2-year-olds get what they want. Some do it with just a smile; others cry for hours until they are satisfied. Harmon is a simple toddler. Don't get me wrong, he can charm the best of them with that smile, and he does throw a mean tantrum. But, Harmon usually gets what he wants -- simply by asking.

His favorite phrase of late is "How about (Mommy or Daddy) does ... (fill in the activity)." This morning while I was getting ready for work, Harmon wanted me to read him one of his new books. So, he went into his room, grabbed the book and then grabbed me by the finger, looked at me with those big brown eyes and softly asked, "How about Daddy reads this on the couch." So, off we went to the couch and took part in Harmon's favorite pastime -- reading.

Harmon's "How about ... " came about a month or so ago. While we were training him to sleep in his new toddler bed, he kept getting up -- sometimes four or five times per night. So, one night I decided to sit in the room and watch to make sure he did not get up. It worked, and now Harmon is down with having Daddy in the room as he drifts off to sleep. After we tuck him in, and he lays his little head down, the suggestion comes out like clockwork: "How about Daddy sits there."

The requests come in many other forms. When he wants to be held: "How about Mommy holds you" (see this entry for an explanation of his pronoun confusion), or when he wants to go play with his trains: "How about Mommy and Daddy go downstairs." You are a persuasive little fella, Harmon, but you don't have to ask us, "How about Mommy and Daddy love me always." You had us at "How about ... "

Scare tactics

Sometimes, with a two-year old, you just have to do what you have to do – even if you resort to scare tactics.

Early on, Harmon was deathly afraid of this bouncing Tigger that my parents have at their house. When you push him down, he yells “I’m gonna’ bounce” and then he starts bouncing. Harmon actually was OK until Tigger started bouncing toward him and then it was all over. He likes all other forms of Tigger – at Toys R Us and even on TV (damn Tigger and Pooh) – but this particular Tigger has always freaked him out. Over the weekend, we were at my parents’ house and we brought Tigger out again to see if things have gotten any better. Harmon is cordial now but they’re definitely not BFF!

Since he’s warming to Tigger a bit, we’ve had to introduce another big cat to scare him with – the black panther. One random day before the holidays, he was doing something I didn’t want him to do and I simply blurted “you don’t want the black panther to get you, do you?” Ever since then, it has stuck! For his birthday, he received “Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?” and there is a black panther on a page of that book (scanned image above) to make it all the more real. When he gets to that page, it reads “black panther, black panther, what do you see?” and, instead of reading the proper response, Harmon says “I see Harmon’s legs!” Kevin and I die – we must tell him all too often that the panther is going to eat his legs!

We use the black panther a lot, mostly to get Harmon to eat. If he’s being a good boy, we’ll tell him the black panther is at Charlie’s house (Charlie is one of his friends from school). I recently found the cutest black panther stuffed animal and sent the link to Kevin. He said that getting Harmon a cute and cuddly black panther would make us lose our edge. Amen to that - the mythical black panther lives on!

In the car

A ride in the car with Harmon lately has been pretty interesting for the following three reasons:

1. As soon as we are on the move, he yanks off his hat and gloves and tosses them back over his shoulder into the “trunk” area. Of course, it takes us forever to find them – especially if it’s dark outside – and, thus, takes forever for us to re-bundle him and get him out of the car. He takes great pleasure in a really good toss and LOVES to tell us all about it.

2. If it’s dark outside, he absolutely HATES for us to turn on the interior lights. He frets “turn the light off” relentlessly until we oblige.

3. No matter where we’re going or what kind of mood he is in, he simply cannot handle Kevin EVER leaving the car. Even if he’s just getting gas and is IN PLAIN VIEW, Harmon has a meltdown (see photo for evidence) and cries “Daddy comes back” until he returns. Kevin claims he does something similar when I leave the car but it can’t possibly compare to what happens when Kevin leaves.

Clean chiclets

Today was Harmon’s first dentist appointment. Apparently, I missed the memo that his first appointment was supposed to take place at age one – I’m only a year behind.

We were OK with waiting because he only drinks milk and water (he’s never been a juice fan, other than a little cran-apple when he’s not feeling well) and he pretty much hates all sweets. He uses a straw sippy cup and never slept with his bottle or anything like that.

So, the outcome was a good one – he’s got clean chiclets. The exam, however, was a little rough. The hygienist used the polisher to clean his teeth – which he hated – and then she used a regular toothbrush for a quick fluoride treatment – which he hated even more. It’s funny that he hated the toothbrush part when we’ve been doing it twice a day since he sprouted those choppers! After a quick flossing, the dentist came in for a look. Everything was fine and she recommended keeping up the good work. He’ll go back again in six months, just like a grown up!

Pacing the halls

This video has been in the camera for a while, as you can tell. In it, Harmon shows off his early wheels.

Voice of Victor(y)

If there is one thing Harmon loves to do more than even reading, it is singing! Here, he sings the greatest fight song in the world.



He's been singing this song since last summer (with help from my cell phone ring tone) but this is the first time we've caught it on camera!

Harmon caught in bed with ...

... A BOOK! God, this kid loves books. So much so that he gets up in the total darkness of night and manages to locate his "counking book" and then falls asleep with it.

Tonight, Kevin thought he was asleep so he took the book out of his bed. Bad decision! He was NOT asleep so he starting crying for it and we gave it back to him. I swear he was snoring within seconds!

I'm glad he loves to read and this book has paid dividends. He's counting everything in sight and can count 1 to 20 in English and 1 to 10 in Spanish.

Reading is good.

27-game plan!

On Thursday, my sisters, parents and I sealed the deal on a 27-game plan for the 2008 Detroit Tigers’ season. With tickets selling like hotcakes, we weren’t hopeful that we would get ANYTHING when single-game tickets go on sale March 1. So, we decided to split up the 27 games between the four of us and then, if we want to go to any additional games, we’ll have to go it alone. We decided on the Saturday plan mostly because that day is the most convenient day for all of us and, now that Harmon is a little bit older, I’m not too worried about keeping him up late every once in a while.

Now that we’re “in,” we really can’t wait for the season to start! Go Tigers!

TigerFest 2008

We went to TigerFest on Saturday and it was a good time. It’s the first time I’ve been to TigerFest since 1999 and, needless to say, it was a little different. Saturday, there were lines for everything! In 1999, my friend and I walked right up (no lines) to get a photo with Bobby Higginson, the most popular Tiger at the time. My, how winning changes things! I told Kevin that while I love my team’s success, I hate the bandwagon jumpers that come out of nowhere to snatch up all the tickets and bog down all the events. All those people that were fans when the Tigers’ sucked should have a card to carry around that affords them extra privileges for all their time and trouble.

ANYWAY, we did the tour of the press box, suites, administrative offices, clubhouse and dugout and that was very cool. We also shopped all the merchandise (I couldn’t find this cool hat there – they were sold out – so I had to order it) and went through the kids’ areas. Harmon is still a bit too small to get it but, next year, it is on!

All the baseball this weekend got me so excited for the season and I’m hoping we can get to AT LEAST one game per month (not sure with the way tickets are selling). At any rate, as I sit here on a cold and snowy January day in Michigan, I can look forward to this (from the Major League Baseball web site):

February 14, 2008
First date injured players, pitchers and catchers may report to Spring Training

February 19, 2008
First date all players may report to Spring Training

February 26, 2008
Mandatory Spring Training reporting date for all players

Tigers' Baseball 2008 - I can't wait!

Harmon at 26 months

Two years and two months is where we are today. Harmon is doing great, adjusting back to the normal routine after doing almost nothing routine since Thanksgiving. Over the holiday break, he made great strides with the potty training. He’s now going at least once a day and sometimes as many as two or three times a day (he’s motivated by stickers). He’ll tell us “poopy butt’s in there” and then we know to get to the potty fast! As he gets better and better on the potty, we’ll transition him to the big toilet (we bought him an Elmo seat for the top of it) and then figure out how to get him to go in public. After that, we’ll tackle the overnight thing and then that whole standing up thing!

As much progress as there was on the potty, there was some regressing in the big boy bed department. Just as he was starting to go to sleep without getting out of bed, we spent five days in Peoria with him sleeping in an inflatable bed. When we got back home, we pretty much had to start all over again as he was getting out of bed four or five times before finally falling asleep. Now, after two weeks of the normal routine, he is doing well again. One step forward, two steps back, I guess.

OK, other things. He’s done great at day care this week, two straight drop offs without crying – we hope it stays that way. And, when we pick him up, we have a whole conversation with him about his friends and teachers and all that he did that day. We also finally got all his Geo Trax stuff set up. We needed more tracks and all surrounding Toys R Us stores were out of stock so we had to order them directly from Fisher-Price. They arrived Thursday and we got it all set up that night. He loves it. But, it’s a lot. I don’t think he’s going to be getting any other new toys anytime soon.

Like most two-year-olds, Harmon does some funny things. First, when we’re out and Kevin, God forbid, has to get out of the car to go in somewhere, Harmon acts like he’s going away to Egypt or something. He cries the entire time all while yelling “Daddy comes back!” It’s funny. Usually, I’ll have to turn on some Springsteen (specifically Magic or Livin’ in the Future) to settle him down. Speaking of the car, he’ll direct us to our respective chairs in the front and he gets confused when we switch.

He loves Isabel lately, and frequently asks to hold her. He’s even to the point where he’ll sometimes give her a little kiss on the head. He is very gentle with her and she seems not to hate it so much! I secretly think she loves it when he chases her!

In addition to the reading (my God, the reading), he now LOVES to look at all his old photo albums, especially the one that has photos of his first haircut and first birthday party. He also still loves music and he sings along more than ever. He has gotten more picky, though, and if he doesn’t like the song, he’ll say “no iff (this) one” or “no aff (that) one!”

When he’s sad or gets hurt, he’ll run to one of us and say “Mommy holds you” or “Daddy holds you.” We’ll always ask him “do you want Mommy or Daddy to hold you” so he just repeats us. He’ll figure out that pronoun thing eventually.

A few more quick things he says lately:

Helpacacopter (he has called helicopters “helpacas” for a while and now he’s trying to say it correctly but the old word won’t die easy).

Fool bus – “School” comes out “fool.”

How about (fill in the blank)? If he wants something, he’ll say “how about cars?” or, at lunch, for example, it’s “how about raisins?” It’s always how about something! But, almost all the time, he’ll say “please” first!

In the morning, he’ll say to his snow leopard stuffed animal, “Hi, snow leopard, what did you do today?”

I don't even know what to say

I ran across this photo today and remembered that I meant to post it. Around Halloween, Harmon's day care had a photographer come in to take dress-up pictures of all the kids. Obviously, this didn't go over too well with Harmon. Is it any wonder we didn't order multiple copies of these? Hilarious!

Peed on

Last night, right after Kevin stripped Harmon down for his bath, he ran away from us and ran into the den. When Kevin chased after him, he noticed that Harmon's split-second head start resulted in an excited pee on the computer. I'm not even kidding. Before last night, Harmon only had peed twice - once on Kevin (at the doctor's office) and once on my Mom. So, imagine our surprise when he opened up on the computer. I think even he was surprised. Kevin said he was looking down like WTF! While initially we were pissed (no pun intended), we laughed about it a ton today. I'm thinking the fact that the computer is OK had a lot to do with our laughter.